You Made Your Bed
by Nefra I
Summary: Tsunade is forced to step down as Hokage...this is the aftermath.


Here I am again with yet another one-shot. I think I've already used that line but who cares, it's the truth. LOL! This is another Kakashi and Naruto story I've had for a while and wanted to go ahead and post. Once more, another story that has no sex; personally I don't really think it needs it. So, read it and let me know what you all think.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I make any money from the writing of this story.

Naruto finished packing up the last few things he would need and closed his bag. It would be hard to leave the village that he loved so much but at the same time it would be the easiest thing he'd ever done. A few years ago the thought of leaving would have never crossed his mind but in light of Tsunade being forced to step down and the council choosing their new Hokage there was no way in hell Naruto was sticking around for the aftermath.

He walking out into the living room and placed his bag on the bare floor. He'd already cleaned out his refrigerator along with the rest of the shabby apartment. The last few days had been spent cleaning, painting, repairing, and getting rid of all of his furniture. The bed was the last item still in the apartment and Naruto had no inkling of throwing it out until he was ready. But now that he thought about it, as much as the landlord weaseled out of him every month the old fart could throw it away himself.

Going back into the bedroom, he slipped into the red robe given to him by the toads and hefted the large scroll onto his back. Just because he was leaving Konoha didn't mean he still wasn't the toad sage…that was one thing this village couldn't take from him.

When Tsunade had told him the news of what was going to happen and who the council had chosen Naruto immediately put in the request to retire as a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf. It had been Tsunade's final act as Hokage, overseen by Shizune and Ibiki to make sure no details were overlooked that could give the council a loophole to keep him there. He had been a civilian for almost a week now and his preparations for leaving had taken that long.

Tsunade had gone ahead with Shizune promising to meet him in the next town and gave him two weeks to catch up with her before she moved on. Naruto smirked as he summoned a messenger bird and gave it a package to deliver to the new Hokage knowing the bastard would be furious enough to try blocking his way personally.

Yes, Sasuke had been the one the council chose to take Tsunade's place and Naruto thought it was funny as hell. The council was so up in arms about having the Uchiha back they hadn't even thought twice about what their actions might stir up with the neighboring nations. Oh well, it was their bed, they'd made it and they could lay in it.

Naruto walked back through the living room and picked up his bag with everything he wanted to take with him stored in scrolls inside before stepping out his door for the last time. He walked down the stairs whistling happily and twirling the keys around his finger as he descended. Taking a moment, he stopped and knocked on the landlord's door.

When the door opened the landlord glared at him before smirking maliciously. "Whatever you want it can't be fixed until next week."

Naruto shrugged and threw the keys at him, "That's too bad because you might want to fix it before someone decides they want to live there. Or better yet, torch it because I don't know of anyone that would want to live in this rundown slum. Have a great life and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out."

The landlord stood there dumbfounded as the keys hit his chest and fell to the floor with a clatter. He looked down at them before shouting at Naruto's retreating back.

"Your lease isn't up yet demon!" he yelled.

"Sue me for the balance," Naruto yelled back and kept walking.

Naruto walked through the village with his head held high and a bright smile on his face. He made his rounds through the streets, stopping to talk to a few of his friends along the way. They didn't have to ask…they knew what Naruto had done. Many of them were sad but some were angry that he was leaving, Shikamaru being among those.

Naruto understood Shikamaru's anger but told him it wouldn't be the last time they saw each other. He was able to get the lazy nin's address before he left and promised to write as often as he could. Neji was just as angry but instead of giving Naruto any grief about it…he actually hugged the blonde before they parted ways. That had been the hardest thing Naruto had done so far but it was nothing compared to Guy and Lee's reactions to his leaving.

The manly tears that fell between the two of them would have been enough to provide water for the Valley of the End for years. Naruto didn't shed tears and promised to write and visit as often as he could. It was Guy who offered a plausible solution to meet every few months in another town while they were out on missions. Naruto thought it was a good idea and promised to meet up with them after the New Year.

The only people he didn't see on his trek through the streets were Sasuke and Sakura. That didn't really surprise him…Sasuke was in his nice big office thinking that Naruto was at home sulking and Sakura had probably super glued herself to his backside already. Another person he didn't see was Kakashi even though the copy nin knew what Naruto had been planning.

He made one last stop at Ichiraku to have lunch and endured the hugs from Teuchi and Ayame. Again he promised to write as often as he could before leaving the stand. As he walked away he didn't see the old man and his daughter close up shop and place a 'going out of business' sign on the front of the stand.

His last stop before leaving was the Academy. Classes had been released for lunch and Naruto took the opportunity to slip into Iruka-sensei's classroom.

"Naruto," Iruka greeted with a bright smile.

Naruto took a deep breath; this was going to be difficult. "I came to say good-bye Iruka-sensei."

"Oh, are you going on a mission?" Iruka asked.

"No," Naruto said softly. "I'm leaving…for good."

"Leaving?" Iruka whispered as tears suddenly formed in his eyes. "But…but where are you going?"

"I don't know, but it will be away from here." Naruto answered. "I put in a request to retire just before Tsunade was forced to step down. She made sure the paperwork went through before she left…I'm on my way to meet up with her and Shizune but…I wanted to say good-bye to you first."

Iruka swallowed thickly thinking about the events that had led to this moment. Just like everyone else he knew it was coming but didn't want to acknowledge it. "I understand," he looked up at his favorite student, "I wish I could come with you."

Naruto smiled, "I won't be gone forever and I promise to write. Actually I've made that promise quite a bit today but it's one I won't break."

Iruka stood up and wrapped his arms around the young man that had excelled from a class clown to an intelligent young man. "I'll miss you and you better write or I will track you down."

Naruto returned the hug, "Maybe I shouldn't write…at least then it's a guarantee I'll see you again soon."

Iruka bopped him gently on the head, "Don't even joke." He sighed and held Naruto back at arm's length, "Take care of yourself."

"I will Iruka-sensei and thanks for everything."

Naruto walked out of the classroom and down the hall, tears falling from his blue eyes when he heard the sounds of crying behind him. He quickly wiped the tears away and headed toward the village gates. Kotetsu and Izumo were sitting in their normal spots doing guard duty when Naruto approached them with the proper paperwork to leave. The two shinobi read it through before looking up at him with strange expressions on their faces.

"Permission granted," Kotetsu said with a nod. "Good luck!"

Naruto had stepped one foot past the gate when a familiar voice shouted at his back.

"STOP!"

Naruto looked over his shoulder and sighed when he saw Sasuke walking toward him with Sakura and the council hot on his heels.

"What do you want bastard?" Naruto asked.

"If you step through that gate I will label you a missing nin." Sasuke announced. "You are still a shinobi of Konoha and by leaving you are committing an act of treason."

Naruto laughed a full blown laugh full of amusement. "I'm what? Don't you even look at your paperwork? I've been a civilian for a week now and you didn't even realize it?"

"What do you mean a civilian?" Sakura demanded. "You need the Hokage's permission to retire and Sasuke-kun didn't give you permission to do anything."

"No," Naruto said trying to keep his laughter at bay, "but Tsunade did before she stepped down. Ibiki and Shizune were witnesses to the signing and filing of said paperwork and there isn't a fucking thing you can do about it."

"How dare you," Sasuke growled, "I am the Hokage and you will do what I tell you."

Naruto instantly sobered, "You know what I really find amusing about all of this. You're an ex-missing nin which means by Konoha's laws you shouldn't even be wearing that robe. None of the other nations trust you because of acts you committed while you were a student of Orochimaru and then later an affiliate with the Akatsuki. The only reason you accepted the office is because you thought it would be the ultimate attack that would hurt me and make me grovel at your feet. But I got news for you HOKAGE…no nation will ever come to help you, no one will accept your position as Hokage of Fire Country outside these borders."

"They have no choice but to accept him," Koharu growled, "he is the Hokage and he is the last say next to the Daimyo."

Naruto tilted his head to the side, "What about the Land of Snow? What about Lightening Country and Killer Bee, Gaara and the Land of Wind…what about the enemies you made of Konoha's enemies? Not really meaning to pat myself on the back here, but most of Konoha's recent treaties are because of me…actually I think all of them are but who cares. The council wanted you to be Hokage and you took it because you wanted to hurt me but the only thing you've accomplished is Konoha's slow decline into poverty, loss of trade routes, friends, allies, and any military advantage you might have had. Have a good time rubbing your position in my face Sasuke because I wouldn't want to be you even if my life depended on it."

With a mock salute, Naruto turned on his heel and walked down the path to the next town where Tsunade was waiting for his arrival.

Sasuke remained standing there with a horrified expression on his face. Sakura finally picked her jaw up off the ground and looked over at Sasuke.

"We'll be fine I'm sure," Sakura said with a confidence she suddenly didn't feel.

Sasuke shook his head, "No we won't Sakura because everything he said was the full blown truth. Naruto is responsible for all of those peaceful treaties and outside allies Konoha had accumulated. Now that he's gone…they will likely go with him."

Naruto didn't hear the rest of the conversation nor did he even want to. For the first time in his life he was completely free to do whatever he wanted. It was a big world out there and he wanted to explore it, visit some old haunts that Jiraiya had told him about and maybe make some new friends. He would come back to Konoha someday but it would be a while and he did promise to write.

That's when a thought struck Naruto and a wide grin spread across his face. Yes, he would write…he would continue with Jiraiya's work and publish a new book series in his honor. Oh yeah, life was looking better all the time.

Naruto noticed the position of the sun and realized how late in the day it was getting. He still had a few hours but wanted to start looking out for good places to camp for the night. The feel of someone's chakra in the forest made him pause and he reached for a kunai just as someone stepped out of the trees ahead of him.

The man was tall and dressed in black hakama pants and a loose white haori. Naruto's gaze froze on the silver hair as the man turned his head toward him and smiled…or at least he thought it was a smile.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked in wonderment and approached the masked jounin. "What are you doing out here?"

"Waiting for you," Kakashi replied, his eye closing with the smile.

Naruto looked him over and took notice of the short sword strapped to his back and the pack on his shoulders. "Why are you dressed like that?"

Kakashi chuckled and lowered his mask, "Did you actually think I was going to let you leave and have all the fun? I placed my paperwork just hours after you did…Tsunade's idea."

Naruto smirked, "Are you sure it wasn't because you wouldn't have been able to live without me?"

Kakashi closed the distance between them and placed a soft kiss on Naruto's lips. "Now what gave you that idea?"

Naruto accepted Kakashi's hand and the two of them continued down the path to an unknown but happier future.

The words Naruto spoke to Sasuke that day quickly came to pass. With Sasuke as Hokage many of the previous treaties were broken or cancelled due to the current Hokage's past actions in their lands. Trade routes closed down and even the missions that used to come through so freely stopped coming. Many clans were forced to relocate in order to survive and those that stayed were at constant odds with each other.

Shikamaru left Konoha and moved his family to Suna where he eventually married Temari. It wasn't long before the rest of his squad followed, the Akimichi and Yamanaka clans adding more prestige to Suna and giving them an advantage available only to Konoha previously.

Guy and Lee left in the middle of the night and made it to the Land of Waves where Tsunami and Inari welcomed them with open arms. They took possession of Zabuza's old hideout and turned it into a dojo that soon swelled to astounding numbers. Tenten arrived soon after with her family and they set up a weapons forge in Wave…Lee asked her to marry him and she accepted. They're getting married as soon as Naruto arrives.

Neji, Kiba, and Shino took Hinata and headed into the mountains not long after an attack came from Sound. It turned out that some of Orochimaru's 'experiments' survived and wanted revenge for the one they claimed saved them. Hiashi was wounded during the attack and never fully recovered from it. In the end the pain had driven him to such madness that he slaughtered his entire clan including the branch members; Hinata and Neji were the only survivors.

The Aburame and Inuzuka clans banded together and created a section in Konoha that was closed off to all outsiders. The only one allowed entrance was the Hokage and that was if he could actually get a messenger bird inside the compound to make an appointment. Only two have made it in and out alive out of about thirty attempts so far.

Teuchi and Ayame packed up and left eventually making it to Lightening Country. They set up shop and it was soon booming again as word spread that Naruto had once eaten at their shop in Konoha. Killer Bee was known to stop by each time he received word from Naruto and forwarded any letters that came for them.

Iruka and Anko fled when Anko was accused by the council of allowing the Sound attack. Ibiki sent his ANBU with them for protection and followed hours later after shredding his files. They journeyed to the Land of Rain and assisted the Mizukage with the rebuilding of the village and establishing a better shinobi force. In return for their assistance the Mizukage allowed them to stay and establish a better criterion for their shinobi academy. Currently they are slowly gaining notoriety as having the best shinobi training available in the elemental countries.

Kakashi proposed to Naruto shortly after Tenten and Lee's wedding. Without the boundaries of shinobi life tying them down they were free to love each other without restraint. When they needed money they would do small missions for the locals of the village they were travelling through.

They didn't stay in Fire Country for too long once they found out what happened to the clan families. Naruto had insisted however that they track down Kiba, Shino, and Hinata before they left because they weren't sure when they'd be back. It took them more than a month to finally track the three plus Neji down. Hinata had been happy to see them alive and well and Naruto found out what happened to the Hyuuga clan.

Luckily Shino had kept in contact with his clan and both Naruto and Kakashi were happy to learn of their decision to merge with the Inuzuka. Sasuke's rule as Hokage was anything but prosperous and Konoha was indeed falling apart at the seams.

When the couple reached Lightening Country Killer Bee came out to welcome them with open arms. The news of the couple getting married had reached Bee's ears and he wanted to be the one to host the wedding and the reception. Afterward people would talk about the 'wedding of the century' and at that Naruto and Kakashi would look at each other and smile.

Through their travels they also visited some of the places Jiraiya had promised to take Naruto someday. What shocked Naruto the most was one of those locations was a huge house that had an older couple living there taking care of the place. Upon their arrival the woman had squealed happily and quickly ushered them inside. That night over a wonderful dinner Naruto discovered the house had belonged to Jiraiya and that it had been left to him in his will.

Naruto had immediately sent a message to Tsunade and Shizune asking them to come join them. When Tsunade learned this news she'd been livid. The council had read the last will and testament to her but failed to mention anything that had been left to Naruto. They'd even supplied a copy of it to her and Naruto hadn't been mentioned once which was surprising to her since he had been the toad sage's godson.

The older couple keeping up the house showed them a multitude of personal items that had belonged to Minato and Kushina…Naruto's parents. Tsunade had laughed long into the night after seeing their possessions knowing the council had gone crazy after Minato's death looking for some of them. On top of everything else the house was built into a mountainside just barely inside Fire Country's border. No one knew about it and, if you didn't have a map showing you exactly where it was you'd never find it.

As for Sasuke and Sakura, they were married and Sakura gave birth to twins; boys. Sasuke cherished his children but each day he would look out at his once prosperous village and silently despair. To an ordinary person Naruto's words when he left almost five years ago would have seemed boastful and arrogant. When Sasuke told Sakura that it was the truth no one had really put much stock in the 'demon's' words.

Sasuke knew why he'd taken the office and Naruto had hit the nail on the head. He'd wanted to finally defeat the blonde and be seen by his rival that he was the better of the two. However, Naruto had proved once more that he was actually better than any of them. When he left all friendly relations Konoha had left went with him and Sasuke knew Naruto hadn't spread such news about what he and the council had done…it wasn't in him to do so.

As soon as Naruto was gone he and the council had gone through every piece of paperwork that had been filed in the months prior to Tsunade's forced abdication. They found Naruto's retirement request…along with Kakashi's filed the exact same day. It made sense as they'd been searching for the copy ninja but he had vanished without a trace.

Sasuke looked at the five faces of Hokage Mountain; soon to be six as the carvers were busy placing his likeness next to Tsunade. He didn't need Kakashi or even his brother or father to tell him what went wrong because he knew. Out of spite he'd taken Naruto's dream away from him and in return Naruto had left him with a nightmare. The worst part was Naruto knew exactly what would happen and wanted no part of it.

Sasuke caught rumors here and there about the blonde and all the good he was doing in the world. One of the rumors said that Naruto and Kakashi had married in Lightening Country and the celebration following had been huge. The Kage's had all been invited along with Yukie from the Land of Snow and a few others Naruto had met while Sasuke had been busy as Orochimaru's student but Sasuke hadn't even known until almost a year after the event.

Now…now Sasuke wished more than anything that he'd been able to let go of his anger and jealousy for the blonde when it would have made a difference. Konoha was in shambles, the buildings were run down, money was no longer flowing in like water, and the most powerful clans in the shinobi world had either locked themselves away or moved on to more prosperous venues.

Before Naruto left Sasuke thought he knew everything about revenge but in the end…Naruto was the only one that could really dish it out.

Okay folks, make me a happy authoress and review now! *grin*


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